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The Life Line
Winslow Homer1882–83
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
New York, United States
A firefighter facing right and holds an unconscious young girl in a gurney as he carries her to safety. The girl's head rolls back, her right arm hangs down limply and the clutches a rope.
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Details
- Title: The Life Line
- Creator: Winslow Homer
- Creator Lifespan: 1836/1910
- Date Created: 1882–83
- Physical Dimensions: w280 x h449 cm
- Type: Drawing
- Rights: Gift of Charles Savage Homer, Jr.
- Medium: Charcoal, white chalk on cream wove paper, lined
- Viewing Notes: A man looking right holds an unconscious young girl in a sling. Her head rolls back; her right arm hangs down limply and her left arm clutches a rope.
- Paper Support: Cream wove paper, lined with muslin
- Markings: Recto: Stamped in brown ink, at lower left corner: Museum for the Arts of Decoration Cooper Union [Lugt 457d]
- Inscribed: Recto: black chalk, lower left corner: The Life Line / First Sketch
- Exhibitions: Grand Rapids, MI - Grand Rapids Art Museum, "The American Spirit: Frederic Church, Winslow Homer, Thomas Moran. Masterworks from the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution," October 17, 2003 - January 4, 2004.New York, NY - CHNDM, "The Cooper Hewitt Collections: A Design Resource," exhibited rotation 4: April 13, 1992 - August 30, 1992.New York, NY - CHNDM, "Training the Hand and Eye: American Drawings from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum," January 22, 1989 - March 5, 1989; circulated by SITES, September 1989 - October 1990; Travelled to: Chicago, Ill - Terra Museum of American Art, September 9, 1989 - November 5, 1989; Washington, DC - SIMuseum of American Art, December 9, 1989 - February 4, 1990; Columbus, GA - The Columbus Museum, March 3, 1990 - April 29, 1990; Fort Worth, TX - The Amon Carter Museum, May 26, 1990 - July 22, 1990; Salina, KS - Salina Art Center, August 18, 1990 - October 14, 1990.New York, NY - Knoedler, "Winslow Homer in Monochrome," December 12, 1986 - January 10, 1987.Greenville, SC - Greenville County Museum of Art, "Winslow Homer: Works on Paper from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum," January 21, 1986 - March 9, 1986. New York - National Academy of Design, "Drawings at the National Academy," May 3, 1979 - May 20, 1979.New York, NY - The Century Club, "Drawings by Centurions, lent by the Cooper-Hewitt Museum," February 13, 1979 - March 4, 1979. New York, NY - Wildenstein and Co., "Winslow Homer 1836-1910: A Selection from the Cooper-Hewitt Collection, Smithsonian Institution," May 3, 1972 - June 3, 1972, p. 158 pl. 4-9; Travelled to: Columbia, SC - Columbia Museum of Art, March 15, 1974 - April 19, 1974; Savannah, GA - Telfair Academy of Arts & Sciences, Inc., April 25, 1974 - May 26, 1974.Rockland, ME - William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum, "Winslow Homer," July 10, 1970 - September 7, 1970, no. 44.Red Bank, NJ - Monmouth Museum, "The Spell of the Sea," (held in the rotunda, Asbury Park), May 1, 1965 - May 31, 1965.New York, NY - CUM. "Five Centuries of Drawing." The Cooper Union Centennial Exhibition. Selected and arranged by The Cooper Union Museum, organized by The American Federation of Arts. November 11, 1959 - November 11, 1961.New York, NY - Wildenstein and Co., "Winslow Homer," February 19, 1947 - March 22, 1947, no. 100.Worcester, MA. - Worcester Art Museum, "Winslow Homer," November 16, 1944 - December 17, 1944, no. 93.New York, NY - University Club, April 1, 1938 - April 21, 1938.New York, NY - Whitney Museum of American Art, "Winslow Homer Centenary Exhibition," December 15, 1936 - January 15, 1937, no. 114.Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Institute, "Centenary Exhibition of Works of Winslow Homer,"January 28, 1937 - March 7, 1937, no. 135.Philadelphia, PA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, "Winslow Homer: 1836-1910," May 2, 1936 - June 8, 1936, no. 61.
- Dimensions: 44.9 x 28 cm (17 11/16 x 11 in.)
- Bibliography: Hathaway, Calvin. "Drawings by Winslow Homer in the Museum's Collections," Chronicle of the Museum for the Arts of Decoration of Cooper Union Vol. I, no. 2 (April, 1936) p. 60 [illus.]."Winslow Homer: 1836-1910" (Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1936 1936 - , no. 61."Centenary Exhibition of Works of Winslow Homer" (Pittsburgh, PA - Carnegie Institute, 1937) no. 135."Winslow Homer Centenary Exhibition" (New York, NY: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1937) no. 114."Winslow Homer" (Worcester, MA: Worcester Art Museum, 1944) no. 93."Winslow Homer," (New York, NY: Wildenstein and Co. Gallery, 1947) no. 100."Five Centuries of Drawing: the Cooper Union Centennial Exhibition" exhibition catalog (New York: Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, 1959).Flexner, James Thomas and the Editors of Time-Life Books. "The World of Winslow Homer 1836-1910" (New York: Time Inc., 1966) p. 107 (illus.)."Winslow Homer" (Rockland, ME: William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum, 1970) no. 44.Wilmderding, John and Elaine Dee. "Winslow Homer 1836-1910: A Selection from the Cooper-Hewitt Collection, Smithsonian Institution" (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1972) [exhibition catalogue].Wilmerding, John. "Winslow Homer" (New York: Praeger, 1972) 4-9, pl.158.Dee, Elaine Evans. "The Winslow Homers in the Cooper-Hewitt Museum Collection," American Antiques vol. III no. 2 (November, 1975) 19-20, pl. 6.Dee, Elaine Evans. "The Drawings of Winslow Homer," The Antique Collector vol. 46 no. 1 (January, 1975) p. 45 (illus.).Hendricks, Gordon. The Life and Work of Winslow Homer (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1979) fig. 263.Judge, Mary A. Winslow Homer (New York: Crown Publisher, 1986) p. 40. Styron, Thomas W. "Winslow Homer: Works on Paper from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum" (Greenville, South Carolina: Greenville County Museum of Art, 1986) illus. [exhibition catalogue]Davidson, Gail S. "Training the Hand and Eye: American Drawings from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum" (Washington D.C: Smithsonian Institution, 1989) p. 9.Cikovsky Jr., Nikolai and Franklin Kelly. Winslow Homer (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995) 382-383, fig 246.Symmes, Marilyn. "Collecting for Inspiration and Instruction: Drawings at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum," Drawing vol. XVII, no. 4-6, (November 19,1995 - March, 1996) 77, fig 8.
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